Jet lag from Singapore to Los Angeles: what to expect

How long does jet lag last from Singapore to Los Angeles?

Unaided, eastward shifts settle at around a day per time zone: about 8 days for this one. S6 S7

This plan targets 6 days.

That's what the plan aims at, not a promise — bodies vary.

For this trip that's 2 days sooner than the unaided estimate, on the effort level that fits around a working day.

On night one the plan's bedtime is 01:00, late by Los Angeles's clock. It holds there for 5 nights, then moves to 23:00 by night 7.

Studies of aircrew point the same way: after large shifts, westward adaptation runs roughly 50% faster than eastward S6 S8. This trip is on the slow side of that.

What does the plan say for a typical Singapore to Los Angeles flight?

Departs

20:00 Singapore time

Lands

21:40 Los Angeles time

In the air

about 17h 40m (estimate)

Light, the first full day

10:05–11:05 Get outside into bright light

Keep it dim, the first full day

09:00–10:05 Avoid bright light (sunglasses / dim room)

Keep it dim, the first full day

22:00–00:00 Avoid bright light before bed

Last caffeine, landing day

17:00 on the plane

Last caffeine, first full day

17:00

First night's sleep

01:00–09:00

This example leaves Singapore at 20:00 in the evening and lands in Los Angeles at 21:40 late at night, after about 17h 40m in the air.

The flight time is our estimate for a nonstop from the distance, and the trip is set in January. It's the default traveler from the calculator: usually asleep 23:00 to 07:00, no melatonin, Real Life effort.

You cross the date line going the other way, so you land on the same date you took off.

In July the gap is 9 hours, not 8, because Los Angeles moves its clocks and Singapore doesn't.

The plan puts about 8 hours of sleep on board, from 05:25 Los Angeles time. You're awake again before you land.

The day before you fly, the plan starts with light at 07:00–08:00 Singapore time. Singapore's sunrise, about 07:12 in January, comes partway through, so finish it outside.

On landing day your last coffee comes on the plane, at 17:00 Los Angeles time, and the plan has none between landing and your first night's sleep. From 09:00, when you wake from that first sleep, it allows it again, until 17:00.

January days are short in Los Angeles: about 10 hours of daylight. In January the sun is up in Los Angeles from about 06:56 to 17:11, so the 10:05 light step the day after landing is daylight. Outside is the easy way to get it.

At over 16 hours in the air, this is one of the longest flights there is.

You land too late in the day for a light step on landing day, so the first one is the next day, at 10:05.

Note the order: the plan keeps you out of bright light until 10:05, then sends you outside. Light before your body's low point pushes the clock later S1, and you need it earlier.

The sun is already up for the morning dim window (09:00–10:05), so stay inside with the lights low, or wear sunglasses if you have to be out S1.

What helps after flying east to Los Angeles?

Going east, you want light after your body's low point and darkness before it S1. In the first days after a big shift that often means sunglasses in the morning and the early afternoon outside. Why flying east is harder goes through the mechanism.

Melatonin has its best trial results on eastward flights across five or more time zones S5. It's a timing signal, not a sleeping pill: melatonin for jet lag covers when to take it. Check with your doctor first.

And the flight home from Los Angeles?

Los Angeles to Singapore is the same 8 hours the other way, westward. It's the easier direction: about 6 days unaided, and the plan targets 4. Jet lag from Los Angeles to Singapore has the details.

More routes from Singapore

• Singapore to Paris
• Singapore to Frankfurt